ON THE MARK : The Chivas Regal finals; Godara

The Indian polo season, though only a few years old, has acquired a distinct and desirable culture, flaunting the nostalgia of ex-royals with the sinewy appeal of horses and players and the arrogance of Gucci sunglasses and straw hats. Matches are interspersed with large doses of revelry, an established corollary of polo. This season began in Delhi last year, hopped over to Jodhpur and then Jaipur (with a palace party by Gayatri Devi) and is now back in Delhi for more tournaments. And if you are late for the finals, for instance of last week's Chivas Regal Cup or the Raymonds Cup before it, there's only standing room.

Performances other than those on the dance floor? Druvpal Godara, a hyperactive 24-year-old forward who plays for the Oberoi Blues, is now almost a certainty for a handicap of six. McDowell's Shamsheer Ali, 20, is a skilful stick-worker and gritty forward who topped with about 60 goals this season. The teams are also bolstered by foreign players, mostly Argentinian and English. Players make Rs 50,000-60,000 per tournament. "Next time we'll probably include Chandigarh as a venue," says player and game promoter Adhiraj Singh. Good ... the sleepy city needs to have more fun.

-Anshul Avijit

SPOTLIGHT
Chugging Away on a New Route

ON TRACK: Kumar's budget is reformist

This year's Railway Budget has shifted track-from Mamata Banerjee's populism to Nitish Kumar's reforms. Passenger fares, especially of the lower classes, will go up by 6 to 15 per cent from April 1, 2002. It will boost the Railways' earnings by Rs 910 crore as over 90 per cent of the total passenger traffic is in these classes. Significantly, freight fares-one of the highest in the world-have not been hiked, barring marginal adjustments.

By hiking fares, Kumar has tried to stem one of Railways' most intractable problems-cross subsidy. Irrationally, high freight rates pay for artificially low passenger fares. As Railways lost freight share to roads, it was caught in a double whammy of falling revenue growth and steep rise in costs. With measures like increasing freight wagon speed, introducing high-speed refrigerated vans and rationalising freight slabs from a high 59 to 32, freight traffic will get a boost. The budget also attempts to tap alternative sources of funding, including the private sector, PSUs and state governments.

Worsening financial conditions, rising wage bill and high operational cost due to lack of focus demand drastic measures. But keeping political compulsions in mind, this was the best the minister could do.

-Malini Goyal

Bumps Ahead

HANDS FULL: Singh (left) with Aiyer

Okram ibobi singh has been propelled to the hot seat in Manipur. But for the 53-year-old president of the state Congress, the elevation, overseen by AICC observers Pranab Mukherjee and Mani Shankar Aiyer, is less than comforting. There is a fractured verdict and legislators here are notorious for switching sides. The Congress, with 20 seats, heads the new Secular Progressive Front comprising four parties. The opposition 13 MLA-strong Federal Party of Manipur could prove a headache. But Singh, who had been elected to the Manipur Assembly twice before, is confident of putting a halt to horse-trading and infighting. Says Mukherjee: "The Congress is interested in tackling the mess in Manipur, not fight within the party for leadership." Right now Singh has a more important task on hand: fighting insurgency in the state.

-Wasbir Hussain